Cheng-Jen Lin was born in Ilan in 1957. After graduated from National College of Arts in 1975, he went studying in Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Italy, wishing to be exposed to more of Western arts.
Studying abroad in Italy where post-modern style of art was just sprouting then, Lin was profoundly influenced by its style. Post-modern art focuses on the cultural differences, making Lin go on a long search of Taiwan’s specialty and collective historical memories. He started to create his work following the post-modern style in 1984, using the local religions and folklores as main materials to deliver a taste of arts and beauty specially owned by Taiwan.
Cheng-Jen Lin defines himself as the “pioneer of post-modern arts in Taiwan.” He has a wide range of topics, and his works contain a rich Zen expression and often leave a large space for imagination of the audience. He dedicated himself in the discussion of aesthetics and techniques between the East and the West, trying to apply the de-construction and re-construction skills of post-modernism to express the metaphysical aesthetics of ancient and recent, the overlapping time and space. He explores into the possibility of abstraction and concretion, the artifices and the nature, the tradition and modern, in order to form a mysterious, poetic and blurring dreamland.